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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

the last of the year

I've been very wanty (to use Melissa's term) lately, especially in terms of fabric. And it occured to me if I kept ordering fabric I would have something to post about every day. That's dangerous territory to tread. But it sure would be fun! :)

Here are the results of my last fabric buying hurrah for the year.These came from the Fabric Shack. I am so happy to finally have some of the Farmer's Market fabric. It's so lovely. There is also some Kaffe Fassett, some Ginger Blossom, a little Bijoux and Park Slope in this mix. I sure have been on a green and blue kick lately. And orange! I love orange. Most of these are just quarter yard cuts. A few are half yards.and these came from Cia's Palette.Her customer service and speed were outstanding!!!These are yard and half yard cuts.

So now I'm done. Until next year.---------Does anyone have any great ideas for a quick and fun quilt? I would like to donate a quilt to the silent auction at my church's Women's Christmas Dinner. At first I thought I would make a Christmas quilt, but not having a Christmas quilt of my own, I'm afraid I wouldn't want to part with it after I make it. I'm thinking lap size. And it has to be fairly easy, because I need to have it done by Dec. 2. Any suggestions? Please? I'm drawing a blank.

59 comments:

Love the new fabrics!! Just wonderful! I just finished Bonnie Hunter's Oklahoma Backroads quilt (http://www.quiltville.com/okbackroads.shtml) and it only took me about a week to do a 6 block by 6 block version. For you it would take a lot less time though!

I can't remember exactly where I read about it...maybe here? But, I recently ran across information for a disappearing 9 patch which looked (to my novice eyes) like it would go together fairly quickly...

Well I love the blues and greens because they are my favorite colors but I have been buying orange. Certain shades of it just call out to me. How about doing a strip quilt. Fast, easy, and very attractive with the right fabrics and you have lots of great stuff.

"Four on the Floor?" - hands down the fastest quilt top EVER to put together and it doesn't LOOK like it is easy. It is an amazing pattern that can look totally different each time you make it. You can cut and sew the lap throw version in an evening.

Disappearing 9 Patch - especially fast if you pick up charm packs. And it always looks great and somewhat complicated, but only you (and possibly other quilters) will know just how easy it was. :) I have a quick tutorial on my sidebar if you follow the link to my blog. LOVE the fabric finds. But, really...last hurrah for the year? We still have over a month left...can you really go that long without buying fabric? I don't think I could. ;)

I just did a square in square that was quick to cut and quick to piece. Check my November 5th post. I did this full size top in 2 weeks. Christmas fabrics would be cute (and you could make yourself one too).

I know you said no Christmas quilts but this one is so quick and easy and you don't necessarily need too many fabrics I thought I'd suggest it anyway:http://www.backporchfabrics.com/easy_quilts.htmGood luck!

I made this one for a friend for her birthday... it came together in a day and a half and turned out very cool. she loved it :) http://www.sewnews.com/library/sewnews/library/aaquilt0104.htmI used blues and purples... I'm sure you could use any color combination that strikes your fancy!

Can't wait to see what you pick!I'll be looking for the finished product!Love all the fabrics you chose, but HOW can you go for a month and a half without buying any more???I'm so addicted to this site! :)

with the arctic chill that just came into the NE, I'm scurrying to create a "stroller quilt," aka - a small crib-ish sized quilt that I will sew velcro tabs onto that can wrap around the stroller bars. In NYC, bundle me's are tough, as they prevent the stroller from folding, which one needs to do on a city bus. So the stroller quilt came to mind. I'm thinking EASY squares, but all askew, in a very Frank lloyd Wright kind of style!

First of all, the first several quilts that came to mind were all made by you. So I thought some more. There is a simple design that I quite like (but don't know the name of). You take a square and four rectangles, then spin partial seams off the center square. It is very simple, but striking. Often the center square is uniform, while the rectangles are random. Using larger pieces it would go faster. For example, 1 @ 2 1/2" square and 4 @ 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" or 1 @ 3 1/2" and 4 @ 3 1/2" x 6 1/2". The other idea I have is called "Arkansas Crossroads", you may see some here... http://suzyqsparkle.blogspot.com/2008/01/crossroads-trips.htmlactually, the book listed, "Quilts from the Heart" by Karin Renaud is full of great, simple, bright ideas for charity quilts. It's currently one of my favorite books!

I'm with Thimbleanna and can't believe you actually asked! However, you could just get some gorgeous fabric in the size you want and quilt it with crosshatching or something plain without doing any piecing!

Check out Blue Meadow Designs blog they, in recent months, have shown photos of 100 of their favourite quilts - lots of those are based on large fabric pieces with large basic applique enhancement and simple stripped pieced backs - stunning and ideal for a childs quilt - a likely seller - especially at this time of year

I think the important thing is to remember that as sewers and quilters, we often think "Well, it only took me a day / a weekend / 10 hours to make, so people will think I"m being stingy giving this to them / auctioning it off instead of doing something more complicated." But I've found that the reality is that non-quilters find any hand made quilt -- even the most simple one - kind of magical. So get some pre-cut something, or cut some strips or squares and throw it together. Non-quilters will still think its beautiful.

What about a Roman Square? I know it is a traditional style, but those fabrics would make it fresh and new looking. I just finished the top for a doll quilt (thank you for the inspiration!) and even for a new-ish quilter, it was fast and oh-so-easy!

was just leafing through a kaffe fassett book this week and copied a few pages of it, he uses simple quarter sq triangles using striped fabric that really zing, and he mainly uses very simple, often one-patch patterns but lets the fabric to the work. i would think a simple rail fence or a floating 4-patch would do the trick.